Ravinder Bhogal, a Kenyan-born journalist, cracked the glass ceiling by opening a high-end restaurant in London despite relocating to the UK as an immigrant.
In an interview, the renowned food journalist-turned-chef explained that her enthusiasm for food began while she was in Kenya.
Bhogal noted that during her seven years in the nation, she prepared tiny meals for her family and developed a passion for the trade at a young age.
Her family relocated to the United Kingdom when she was seven years old, and when she was in her twenties, she landed a job as a writer for More, a London-based beauty magazine.
Bhogal’s big break came in 2007, when she entered a cooking competition on a UK television network and beat out 9,000 other ladies for the top prize.
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Her career then took off once she started receiving phone calls from agents and clients. She even got a book deal with Harper Collins as a result.
“My first book Cook in Boots was published the following year and won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award UK’s best first cookbook. My book deal meant I was financially secure enough to leave my role at the magazine. I had worked hard to become a beauty writer
“I had interned at magazines, did a post-grad in journalism, and worked my way up, but food was where my heart lay, and now I had a chance to do it,” she noted.
Bhogal took the plunge and left her journalism career to become a full-time chef and player in the UK food scene.
She mentioned that she was later invited to cook meals in prominent restaurants and was eventually engaged to cater Michelin-star chef Brett Graham’s birthday party.
Bhogal is a well-known chef who began his career at the age of 15 in Australia.
After gaining enough expertise, the Kenyan-born foodie was encouraged by her colleagues to open her own restaurant, and she chose the high-end district of Marylebone, where she has been operating for five years now.
“In 2016, I opened Jikoni in Marylebone, one of the most exclusive parts of London. Jikoni is an extension of my home. I wanted to create a menu that represented my experience as an immigrant in London,” she said.
